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Sleep and physical functioning in family caregivers of older adults with memory impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2009

Adam P. Spira ,
Leah Friedman ,
Sherry A. Beaudreau ,
Sonia Ancoli-Israel ,
Beatriz Hernandez ,
Javaid Sheikh  and
Jerome Yesavage
Adam P. Spira*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Leah Friedman
Affiliation:
Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Department of Psychiatry/Research, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.
Sherry A. Beaudreau
Affiliation:
Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Department of Psychiatry/Research, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
Sonia Ancoli-Israel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Beatriz Hernandez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
Javaid Sheikh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
Jerome Yesavage
Affiliation:
Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Department of Psychiatry/Research, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Adam P. Spira, Ph.D., Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House, Rm. 794, Baltimore, MD 21205, U.S.A. Phone: +1 (410) 614–9498; Fax: +1 (410) 614–7469. Email: aspira@jhsph.edu.
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Abstract

Background: Sleep disturbance is common in caregivers of older adults with memory disorders. Little is known, however, about the implications of caregivers’ poor sleep with regard to their physical functioning.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the association between objectively measured sleep and self-reported physical functioning in 45 caregivers (mean age = 68.6 years) who completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, and the Mini-mental State Examination, and wore an actigraph for at least three days. Our primary predictors were actigraphic sleep parameters, and our outcome was the SF-36 Physical Functioning subscale.

Results: In multivariate-adjusted linear regression analyses, each 30-minute increase in caregivers’ total sleep time was associated with a 2.2-point improvement in their Physical Functioning subscale scores (unstandardized regression coefficient (B) = 2.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–3.4, p = 0.001). In addition, each 10-minute increase in time awake after initial sleep onset was associated with a 0.5-point decrease on the Physical Functioning subscale, although this was not statistically significant (B = −0.5, 95% CI −1.1, 0.1, p = 0.09).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that shorter sleep duration is associated with worse self-reported physical functioning in caregivers. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether poor sleep predicts functional decline in caregivers.

Keywords

dementiaburdeninsomnia
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 306 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2009

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